Expression and significance of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of patients with rheumatoid arthritis / 中国综合临床

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the expression and significance of Thl7 cells in peripheral blood of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).MethodsThirty-three active RA and 27 stable RA patients and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study.Intracellular flow cytometry detection of TH17 cells in peripheral blood was established.The correlations between Th17 cells and RA disease activity (DAS28 scale) as well as bone erosion were analyzed.ResultsThe expressions of Th17 cells in the patients with RA were significantly higher than those of healthy controls [ ( 1.60 ± 0.51 ) ％ vs (0.81 ± 0.21 ) ％,t =10.30,P ＜ 0.001 ].The Th17 levels in active RA patients were also higher than that of stable RA patients and healthy subjects [ ( 1.94 ±0.38 ) ％ vs ( 1.19 ± 0.27) ％,t =8.85,14.60,P ＜ 0.01 ].And the Th1 7 levels in stable RA patients were also higher than that of healthy subjects (t =5.88,P ＜0.01 ).Active RA patients with bone erosion ( 19 cases) also had higher levels of Th17 cells than those without bone erosion ( 14 cases) [ ( 2.09 ± 0.39 ) ％ vs.( 1.74 ±0.29 ) ％,t =2.83,P ＜ 0.01 ].The expression of Th17 cells was positively correlated with the DAS28 score ( r =0.86,P ＜ 0.01 ).ConclusionThere is a high expression of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of RA patients,which is related to disease activity and bone erosion.Th17 cells might play an important role in the pathogenesis of RA.